Flexible retirement age in Finland
The study investigates the views of employers and employees on flexible retirement, the decision to retire on an old-age pension, and factors affecting retirement and continuing at work.
The employer data was collected in connection with a research project by Statistics Finland titled "Avoimet työpaikat ja rekrytointi toimipaikoissa" (Job vacancies and recruitment in the workplace) and acquired by interviewing personnel responsible for recruitment in the workplaces. A survey of employees was carried out as a mail survey, directed at wage earners retiring in 2010 directly from work into old-age pension.
Employers and employees share a fairly similar view of the age limits for flexible retirement. The lower age limit is generally accepted. A majority of employers would like to limit upwards flexibility and lower the upper age limit. A significant share of wage earners is also in favour of limiting the degree of flexibility. According to both employers and employees, transition into old-age retirement has, in a majority of cases, taken place so that the individual in question has freely been able to decide when to retire. The employer, on the other hand, is most often involved in the decision to continue working when the individual in question has turned 63 years and wishes to continue at work.
According to the research, more years could be added to the end of careers by adopting more flexible working hours, decreasing the pace and pressure of work and by offering more employer support to continue working until retirement age. Results from the employer survey relating to the goal of extending working careers and the willingness of employers to employ the ageing to a greater extent than nowadays do not support the view that careers would be quickly extending.